


summer camp

by brandywine421



Series: Unfinished AUs of Flail (aka fail) [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 05:48:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5405339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who’s that?" Tony asked, trying to rein in the impulse to tackle the tall stud and ravish him on the quad on sight.</p>
<p>Pepper shielded her eyes with her hand and followed his gaze.  "Oh, that’s Steve.  I knew he was going to camp over break but I didn’t know it was muscle camp."  She raised her hand and waved at the hunk and the guy waved back with a crooked smile.</p>
<p>Wait.</p>
<p>"Steve Rogers?  Puny little – oh God, I’m going to have to do so much damage control to get in those pants," Tony said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Part of a collection of abandoned, but not unloved, fics I will never finish.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	summer camp

"Who’s that?" Tony asked, trying to rein in the impulse to tackle the tall stud and ravish him on the quad on sight.  
  
Pepper shielded her eyes with her hand and followed his gaze.  "Oh, that’s Steve.  I knew he was going to camp over break but I didn’t know it was muscle camp."  She raised her hand and waved at the hunk and the guy waved back with a crooked smile.  
  
Wait.  
  
"Steve Rogers?  Puny little – oh God, I’m going to have to do so much damage control to get in those pants," Tony said.  
  
Pepper rolled her eyes.  "Don’t even think about it.  I hear he finally lost that v-chip that you were so obsessed with.  You’ve been terrorizing him since junior high."  
  
Tony’s eyes widened again when he saw his best friend giving Steve a friendly hug and chattering with him like they were old friends.  "Rhodey didn’t talk to him last year."  
  
"Stop staring.  I thought you were supposed to prove that you’d matured this year, you had it on your list of goals."  
  
"Fucking shrink made me do that.  There’s nothing wrong with me," Tony muttered.  
  
Another kid that Tony didn’t recognized sauntered over to Steve (seriously, the guy had swagger) and slung an arm around him before dragging him into a sloppy kiss.  Tony winced and waited for Steve to freak out or shove him away but he actually leaned in and put a hand on the stranger’s back to hold him in place.  "You’re so rude," Steve’s voice carried and Rhodey’s laugh followed.  
  
"That’s his boyfriend, just transferred in," Pepper said.  
  
"How do you know so much about Rogers?" Tony asked.  
  
Pepper shrugged.  "I’m good friends with Peggy who is good friends with Steve.  She really missed him, or I should say, she was worried about him."  
  
"Why would she worry, I mean, I know he was sick a lot…"  
  
"Stop it, Tony.  You know his mom died," Pepper frowned.  
  
"I did not know that.  Why would I know that?" Tony replied.  
  
She sighed.  "Let’s get to class, if you’re early I bet Hill will shit bricks."  
  
"Such language!  I am scandalized," he said, tearing his eyes away from Steve and his new fan club and linking arms with Pepper to head inside.  
  
Tony wasn’t a nice guy, he worked hard perfecting his ‘richest kid in school and proud of it’ persona.  He was a tease, taunting his classmates for amusement but it was all in good fun and he’d made a lot of friends.  
  
Steve wasn’t one of those.  The kid would blush fire red and hunch into himself and no amount of joking could get through to him.  Tony wasn’t a nice guy, but he wasn’t a bully either and Steve always made him feel like a bully.  
  
It was the first day of his senior year and he had already learned things.  He already had a new goal.  
  
\-----  
  
"Of course he’s going to try and make nice with you now, you’re hot," Clint said, flicking a fry at Bucky to distract him from the cheerleaders’ short skirts.  He didn’t understand why Steve didn’t seem to mind his boyfriend checking out other people but it was none of his business.  
  
"I’m not allowed to kick his ass but I’m definitely keeping my eye on him," Bucky said.  
  
Steve rolled his eyes.  "It’s not like that, Buck.  He’s harmless."  
  
"He made you cry, like, twice.  And that was last year," Clint said.  
  
"That wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know that I had stuff going on," Steve replied.  
  
Bucky narrowed at look at him.  "Nobody’s going to make fun of you this year."  
  
"So, do you get to skip basic training now that you’ve completed ROTC camp?" Clint asked.  He had never considered the military but Steve was going all in.  He could get a free ride after he served a tour or two and the idea was growing on Clint.  Maybe he could be more than a poor orphan destined for Burger King.  
  
"I don’t think so, but it’s supposed to be the fast track," Steve replied, avoiding his eyes.  Bucky gave Steve a warning look but Steve ignored him completely.  Something was going on there.  
  
"He was in a special program," Bucky said after a long moment.  
  
"Shut up, Bucky," Steve snapped suddenly, startling Bucky and Clint.  "I’m going to get another drink."  
  
"What’s that about?" Clint asked.  
  
Bucky sighed.  "He won’t tell me where he went this summer, not really.  I mean, have you ever seen someone bulk up over three months like that?  I mean, he grew, he grew like, a foot and a half in three months and he won’t tell me the truth."  
  
"What do you think?" Clint asked.  
  
"I don’t know.  But he was locked up in meeting with lawyers and loan agents for weeks about the unpaid hospital and funeral bills and then all of a sudden – boom – special program just falls in his lap.  He’s hiding something," Bucky admitted.  
  
"Like the fact that he’s dating his best friend?" Clint countered, filing away the mystery.  
  
Bucky glanced away.  "Yeah.  That."  
  
"What’s really going on?  I know you’ve been with guys, but you’re into girls more," Clint said.  
  
"It’s complicated," Bucky replied.  "Things are complicated."  
  
"Now I’m as worried as Peggy was all summer.  When do I get invited over?" Clint asked.  
  
Bucky glanced down.  "Complicated."  
  
"Shit, man, you gotta give me something," Clint whispered.  
  
"We haven’t exactly told anyone where we’re staying.  I mean, I’m officially out of the orphanage but Steve’s, sort of, under the radar for the moment.  They think he’s staying with an aunt."  
  
"He doesn’t have an aunt," Clint replied.  
  
"Yeah.  So, complicated.  Keep it on the DL, yeah?" Bucky asked.  
  
"You don’t have to tell me that," Clint replied.  
  
Steve returned with several bottles of assorted soda and a befuddled expression.  "People bought me sodas."  
  
"Why?  Are you sure they’re sealed?  What if someone tried to roofie you?" Bucky protested.  
  
"They came out of the machine," Steve replied.  "I don’t even know half those people."  
  
"Told you, you’re hot.  I’ve heard that some of the girls were crying into their cappuccinos when they saw you holding Bucky’s hand earlier," Clint said.  
  
"Oh.  But…" Steve started.  
  
"No buts, we’re in this for the long haul," Bucky cut him off.  "But we’re probably going to have to tell Clint something because he’s asking way too many questions and I feel bad lying to him."  
  
Clint preened.  He’d never had friends like Steve and Bucky before, he’d never had friends at all, really.  Bucky had been at the orphanage for years and was the oldest kid.  Clint had expected a battle for dominance, or at least a battle but Bucky had only smirked at Clint’s insults and invited him to dinner at Steve’s and the rest was history.  Well, apart from the bit where Bucky had aged out and left him as the oldest kid in the group home.  
  
"Yeah," Steve said.  "You can come over.  You’ll be aging out soon and we’re going to be hitting you up to pitch in on the rent."  
  
Clint smiled.  If it had been anyone else he would have considered it charity but Steve and Bucky weren’t like that.  He reached over and took one of the sodas.  "We should start lifting weights, Buck, so we can get free soda."  
  
\---------

  
"I think I’m going to flip out," Steve said into the phone, hunched over in the mostly unused bathroom in the horticulture house.  
  
"What kind of symptoms?" Bruce asked immediately.  
  
Steve was grateful for the scientist’s attention but today was the first time he’d called him without it being a normal check in.  "I can smell everything and I can’t focus on people that are talking to me because I can’t filter out all the other sounds."  
  
"You need to center yourself and get your senses in order.  Do you remember how?" Bruce asked.  
  
"Yeah, but I can’t really put on my sensory deprivation hood when I’m in school, I was hoping you had some other advice," Steve said.  
  
"Where are you now?"  
  
"The greenhouse bathroom.  There aren’t many kids in here, just sprinklers and humidifiers, it’s awful," Steve said.  "Buzzing and…"  
  
"Take a deep breath.  Close your eyes and focus on my voice."  
  
Steve leaned back, supporting himself on the wall without sitting down.  
  
"It’s only the first day, you’ll get the hang of it just keep breathing and slow your heart down, are you listening?"  
  
He sucked in a breath and nodded, holding in the air.  
  
"Steve?"  
  
He snapped to attention when he heard the voice, muttering an apology to Bruce and shoving the phone in his pocket.  
  
"Sorry – just.  Hey.  You okay?" Tony looked at him with concern.  It looked out of place.  
  
"Yeah, um, I’ll get out of your way," Steve replied.  
  
"Whoa, no, I didn’t come in here because I had to piss, I came in because I thought…you might need some help.  You looked upset," Tony said.  
  
"Why are you being nice to me?  You hate me," Steve said.  "I’m not upset, I don’t need help."  
  
"You look like you’re about to burst into flame and I think you have a fever because, shit, I can feel the heat coming off you," Tony said, avoiding his question.  
  
Steve could hear the sound of Tony’s heart pounding and knew that he’d eaten something with horseradish for dinner.  His phone rang and he winced from the sound.  
  
"Okay, so nothing’s wrong, got it, just, shit, just sit down, here, use this so you don’t get gross bathroom floor disease, yes, just chill," Tony’s voice was low and Steve was barely aware of the boy plastering the floor with paper towels before he slumped to the cold floor.  "Shit, I don’t know your boyfriend’s name and I lost Barton’s number – is there someone I can call to help you?  Do you want me to get the nurse or are you OD’ing on something – you’re fucking hot…"  
  
"People keep telling me that.  I just…don’t get anyone, just leave me alone, I just need a minute…" Steve managed.  
  
"I can’t leave you here when you’re having an episode," Tony replied.  He reached into his backpack and held out a bottle of water.  "Try this, take a swallow and you’ll feel the water going down and it’ll give you something other than panic to focus on.  I get episodes like this, doc calls them PTSD, feels like I can’t breathe, you know?  Usually they only happen to me in the car, that’s why I have a driver, sometimes I lose track of where I am and what’s going on when I’m driving myself.  Not so often now, but it took me a while to get control of it."  
  
Tony’s low voice gave him something to focus on and the water seemed to help.  It was cool, straight out of the machine and after a few minutes, Steve realized he was locked on Tony and not the ambient noises.  "Thank you."  
  
"No problem, are you steady?"  
  
"Steadier.  It's complicated," Steve said.  
  
"But not PTSD, right?"  
  
"More complicated," he admitted.  "It's like sensory overload, that's the only way I can describe it.  And no, I can't talk about it.  Besides, you hate me."  
  
Tony winked at him with a crooked smile.  "True.  Except not.  I only tease the people I like, but you aren't the best at picking the difference between friendly teasing and mean-spirited.  Quiet, smart, shy, sweet, you're a perfect target for teasing because you're everything I'm not."  
  
"You got into Mensa when you were 8 years old, Tony," Steve replied.  "And there's never a reason to tease people.  If you get your kicks making other people feel bad, that makes you a bully."  
  
"I'm working on that.  Therapy, twice a week," Tony replied.  
  
"Wow.  I can't believe I'm having a heart to heart with Tony Stark on the floor of the bathroom," Steve said.  
  
"As long as you're not having a panic attack anymore, I consider this a win.  Are you supposed to be in class?" Tony asked.  
  
"Probably, what time is it?"  
  
"2-ish.  I'd offer you a forged hall pass but I don't know if you'd take it," Tony said, rummaging in his bag.  "Do you have a note from your doctor on file?"  
  
Steve couldn't be noticed this year, there were so many things that would blow up if he ended up on the teachers' radars.  
  
"I'm taking that as a no.  This has been an illuminating pow-wow with you, Steven, I never took you for someone that bucked the rules.  I think we might be more alike than we thought.  If you weren't attached to the new kid, I would ask you out," Tony smiled.  
  
"Sorry.  Maybe we could be friends, though," Steve decided, holding out a fist.  Tony bumped knuckles with him and turned his hand to offer him leverage to his feet.  
  
"Deal.  That way when you're ready to rebound, I'll have a head start," Tony winked.  
  
Steve took a deep breath and prepared himself to step back into the chaos.  
  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Tony asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah.  I can't flake out on the first day.  At least I have gym this period, Coach is used to me sitting out," Steve said, forcing himself to relax.  
  
"Maybe last year, I know Rhodey wants to recruit you for the football team, he's just working up to it," Tony said.  
  
"He hit me up this morning, heck, he's been hitting me up since he saw me after camp.  Hey.  Could you not tell anybody about this?  Bucky, he doesn't need to know about this," Steve realized.  
  
Tony shrugged.  "You might think I'm a bully, but I'm not a gossip.  Pepper on the other hand…"  
  
"Oh, I know all about Pepper.  If Peggy ever transferred here, they'd be a force to be reckoned with," Steve replied.  
  
He texted Bruce an all-clear and thank you on his way to gym to plead for leniency about his excessive lateness.  
  
\--------

**Author's Note:**

> This would have been fun if I could have played it out. Bruce is working with Howard, who is a dick, and he's only there to look out for Steve. Howard runs into Steve when he's hanging out with Tony one day and shit hitteth the fan because Tony starts sniffing around and brings his father's supersecret and totes evil human experimentation lab down.


End file.
